With a razor-thin margin between them, Larry E. Romero and Jim Tolbert each pulled enough votes Saturday to meet again in the June 15 runoff race for El Paso City Council District 2.

They edged out seven other candidates in the crowded race to occupy the West-Central seat held by outgoing city Rep. Susie Byrd, who ran for a seat on the El Paso Independent School District board in Saturday's election.

Romero, 57, a business owner, said he plans to spend the coming month stressing the differences between himself and Tolbert.

REPORTER

Diana Washington Valdez

"Voters will have a choice between four more years of Susie Byrd or a different direction. I'm the one who offers a difference," Romero said. "I plan to focus on economic development, creating jobs and the financial stability of the city government. I've heard from older El Pasoans who say they are being taxed out of their homes. We need to look at city spending the debt we will incur with the sale of the new bonds."

Tolbert, 60, a sales representative, said he plans to begin campaigning for the runoff on Monday.

"I plan to focus on issues that are important to District 2, one of them being the bonds for our quality-of-life items, and working closely with neighborhood associations," Tolbert said. "I will continue to emphasize that smart code and smart growth are good for the district and the rest of El Paso."

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Until the election, the nine-way race remained relatively free of controversy and mudslinging.

According to the El Paso County Elections Department, 4,705 people in the West-Central district cast ballots during early voting and on Election Day combined.

The other candidates who did not make it into the runoff were Getsemani Yañez, Edward J. Beck, Michael Apodaca, Yamil Chaheine, Adam E. Gurrola, Dolores Garcia Baca and Leticia Guerra. This was Chaheine's second try at a City Council seat.

Apodaca, who owns a cellphone store, spent Saturday campaigning. He finished in third place.

Gurrola, a project director for a nonprofit organization, said he was "the people's candidate."

"We had modest campaign contributions, but we made up for it by running a strong campaign, and we did very well in the debates," Gurrola said. "We knocked on a lot of doors and reached out to many voters."

Yañez, a small-business owner, said, "We've reached 20,000 people with our campaign message, and we had many volunteers who helped walk the district and work the phones. We've done all that we can do. Right now, I feel pretty good that we did our very best."

Beck, who works in real estate, said he believed that there would be a good turnout for Saturday's city elections.

"However, with nine candidates in this race, it's hard to say what the outcome might be," Beck said. "Our message was well-received, and although we are not professional politicians, our campaign staff had a strong volunteer base. Animosity toward the city government is why I think many people are turning out to cast ballots."

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.